Monday, August 13, 2012

Let's take a look down memory lane; we are going way back to the days of the paleolithic man. We were designed for famine, as well as feast. If we miss a meal, do we really suffer. Hunger pains, weakness, and a desire to enjoy food varies by each individual person, but most of us are just fine. Back in the days of the paleolithic man, when our fore fathers had to hunt or gather food, it would take a very long time to acquire food. It was impractical to drink beverages while concentrating on finding lunch. Some days we didn't find any food. The whole days life was centered around hunting, and gathering for this reason.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Juice is for sick people. Juice is medicine, it is not food, because it has no substance. Juice is more like a bioavailable supplement. Smoothies have some food like properties, but are easier to digest, so they help us to heal to an extent. Food is the best thing to maintain health.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Turmeric is the beauty herb. Of course there are other beauty herbs, but I am talking about this one right now. Kelp is a beauty herb, burdock is a beauty herb, but turmeric is the beauty herb. Why? because it is so easy to add to the diet. Turmeric is the main ingredient in many curries. Yummy curry, and beautiful skin. Yes, many people eat kelp and burdock, but there is a learning curve to enjoying a fresh kelp/burdock salad. Whereas since the first time I bit into a juicy piece of tandoori chicken with some curry peas, we have been inseparable.

Why we relax our hair goes deeper than we like to admit. I always wanted a relaxer so that I could wear the styles I saw on Sebastion models in magazines. I wanted hair extensions so that I could finally have long flowing hair like I saw on white women in Pantene commercials. I still love Sebastion haircuts, and Pantene hair weave; they are beautiful. Aside from the heavy media influence, the local beautician informed me relaxed hair was easier.

Only speaking for my own experience, my areata prone scalp hated chemicals. My scalp would feel very irritated, and burn with every application. I had to cut off a head of hair at every retouch so my hair never grew long enough for any of my favorite styles. It did have bounce when I left the salon. The stylist made it look as long as she could. I always had a fresh haircut. The hair was thinner in a relaxed state, but I assumed that was because the texture was removed. One day I dreamed of having long flowing hair that would blow in the wind, so I could do my own commercial.

A close family friend got a weave, and I was in awe of her hair. The day she walked in with thick hair replacing her thin traction alopecia filled snatched out looking overprocessed hair- blew my mind. She had her Pantene commercial, and I wanted mine. I remember drooling over her weave, telling her how good it looked, and asking her all sorts of questions. Let's just say I wanted that hair too. My desire to have this look allowed me to happily endure hours of pulling, tugging, scolding, and head aches in order to look beautiful.

When we say we have relaxed hair because it is easier; there is a unspoken end to that sentence. We have relaxed weaved up hair because it is easier to achieve the european look of beauty we are accustomed to seeing in the media. Europeans are beautiful, I love my straight haired sisters. My real people, European friends don't look like that media images we all aspire to, but that is another blog. Straight hair looks longer than curly hair does, and curly hair looks longer than kinky hair. Having a relaxer makes it harder to wear a twist out, or afro, but it easier to wear straight.

Some say natural hair takes too long to style or it is unmanageable (too wild). Natural hair takes a long time to style when the goal is to make it appear more relaxed. It takes a long time to find out how to perform the perfect twist out, because most people use the twist out to relax their curl pattern and show more length. It takes a long time to learn anything new, that is why we go to school.

Calling natural hair unmanageable again has to do with a desire to make it more relaxed and socially acceptable. My hair is about as kinked as it comes, but I can easily put my hair into a short tightly coiled professional looking manageable afro. African men have been doing this for decades. Secondly, afro textured hair easily conforms to cute bun styles at shorter lengths than my straighter haired peers. Thirdly, natural hair does great braided or twisted styles. Of course, these styles have yet to enter mainstream, so we may not want them.

Others say it takes hours to do natural hair. In my experience I spent hours doing my permed hair, it took hours to get my weave right, and it can take hours to put twist into my hair. A good haircut on any type of hair takes hours. I would be very upset if I paid a stylist $200 dollars for a cut, and they just cut off my pony tail in one minutes and was done. My naturally straight haired friends take hours blow drying, and styling their hair. They are wearing extensions just like I did, because we have all been looking at the same media. It can take hours to do any great hair style until one is accustomed to it. My natural hair goes into a pony tail faster than straight hair, and it stays much longer. I can pick out my Afro and shape it with my hands in no time. I am a slow braider/twister but a stylist can braid my hair in an hour. In each of these styles my edges are nappy, just like Gabby Douglass, and we both look good. Of course if I were trying to make my natural hair look relaxed, natural hair would take too long to style.

We wear perm because of the slave/colonization process inundating us with images of white is right. During the slave and Jim Crow eras appearing white was a survival technique. It allowed us to pass into society. It made sense in that forum. It can only be imagined how hard it must have been to learn to bleach the skin, relax the hair, and disguise African features at every turn. It must have taken years to learn, and many people must have been maimed getting the formula right. Straightening the hair meant progress, it meant a better chance at survival. Now it is so much a part of our culture that is is easier to exist in an unnatural state, than the one we receive from God.

House slaves ate better, and had a more comfortable life. House slave spent less time in the sun, so they were lighter, many are said to be mixed with European. It was a career goal to achieve a better job with benefits. House slave was perceived as the highest career achievable. Even today, we find out what people dress like at the job, and try to fit in.

Slavery is illegal today, so the tools of slavery are outdated. These images are now cultural, and are pasted down from generation to generation. We no longer remember that we are conforming to a culture that ceased to exist. We are attempting to please a master that we don't have. We want to be accepted by someone that died hundreds of years ago. We are asserting our right to use the whites bathroom, and not have to drink out of the colored only fountain, when they don't exist.

Relaxed hair is cultural. If we are honest, it takes a lot of time to maintain pretty relaxed hair. It is what we are used to, because it has been pasted down through the generations. It is all we know.

Friday, August 3, 2012

It appalls me that a young lady, that is beautiful, athletic, and embraces her natural roots while utilizing the ease of a relaxer is being vilified taking home the gold.Gabby is doing very well, but I am concern about the backward mentality among African American women. It is unreasonable to perform olympic gold level gymnastics in a twist out! The level of balance required to compete in gymnastics is not conducive to a banging hair weave! Runners can wear a weave, because they are not putting that level of demand upon their balance. Sprinters in particular only perform a straight dash for a brief period of time. Gymnast have a time honored tradition of wearing very short styles or ponytails. On a daily basis someone who has participated in the African American form of self mutilation called traction alopecia contacts me to find out how to grow back the hair. When I tell them use a toothbrush in their mouth, not their hair, and wear looser styles, I am talking with someone whose edges begin at their ears. Hooray for Gabby Douglass, she has a bevy of gold medals, a banging body, and luscious thick edges.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

At the beginning of July, one of my favorite you tubers dropped the bomb on the naive you tube community. She came out of the fake review closet, and admitted that she is paid to review products. Then went on about how honest her reviews are. Even a dog has the good sense to prefer the person that feeds them over strangers they just met, that is the dog's honest opinion. Dave Chappell ( I love Dave Chappell) said it best, and I am paraphrasing,'Pepsi and Coke taste the same, but (every) since Pepsi pays me-Pepsi taste better.' Dave observed his honest opinion changed with his paycheck.

Although I have only been juicing for a few week, I can already tell the difference in my health. Normally I am a big skeptic when it comes to nutritional trends. Normally I purchase an appliance, and find out it is easier to use a knife. I have yet to pay more than $$20 for an appliance. My hand blender is called a ballon whip, if you really want to understand how low tech I am. Even the cheapest juicer cost about $100, so I was prepared to do without them. Now that I have a juicer that fits into my lifestyle, I can see paying more than $20 for this appliance.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

There was a time in the 1990's when I had a bevy of make-up lines targeting the African American to choose from. Let me name them in case anyone wants to research them, Iman, Black Opal, Posners, Barbera Walden, and Flori Roberts were my brands of choice. Some brands were sold in department stores, while others were available at the local drugs store. At this hey day of the African American targeting I was able to get the look I wanted. Flori Roberts offered me an orange undertone, Barbera Waldern was movie quality make up, and Fashion Fair offered workday innovation.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Drinking in the goodness of fruits and vegetables is a wonderful way to rejuvenate the body, mind, and spirit. That is pretty powerful statement, but I intend to back it up with a few personal facts in this blog. Do you recall that bit of pep that comes after a nice cup of coffee or a delicious chocolate bar? It taste so good, it is so soothing that the body is able to affect the mind, and spirit. Just talking about it makes me want a mocha hot fudge sunday, with a scoop of home made vanilla ice cream, Amen. Drink a cup of carrot water to get your sugar rush, and follow it with a pint of my lemon onion water, and life is good.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Traction alopecia is quite common in African communities throughout the world, that have been highly influenced by slavery or colonialism. It is an attempt to make our coiled hair appear straight; we often use the term neat. The obvious inference is that our natural coils are wild, and untidy. That is why I named this blog the wild haired mavens. Traction alopecia is a cultural passive maiming of our bodies in order to achieve an elusive standard of beauty. Neatness is often the driver of using too much tension, repeatedly brushing, rubbing or irritating our edges into oblivion.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Many natural afro textured heads avoid protein like it is a plague, but I have found it to be very effective for hair retention when used properly. Below I list my summer protein regime, my moisturizing routine is even more grueling. Therefore I would like to warn those that keep it simple, adding the amount of protein to your hair care regime that I do without eating what I eat, drinking the amount of water that I do, exercising as much as I do, getting a hair cut as often as I do, would mean protein overload-even if you followed my moisturizing routine. Diet, water, and exercise are the basis for any successful haircare regime. It might be all you need.

We all understand the harshness of old man winter, that biting wind, icy snow, salted mounds, itchy woolens, and drying indoor heating systems: But have you considered the equally imposing protein hair traps of summer? In the summer we often want to flaunt our hair with high manipulation braids, moisture rich wash n gos, and beach curls. Add that lovely moisture drenched air, and sizzling summer sun, and we have fried moisture overloaded hair. An astute hairologist might note that winter's regime isn't working for them right now, and mistakenly think products are no longer right for their hair. Before you throw out great winter products take a look at the tell tale signs that you might need a summer protein regime.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Every three to four months the difference in hair thickness become insurmontable. While I am combing my hair the disparity in the level of thickness at the root as compared to the ends creates a hair snatching trap. As long as I trim monthly and keep the single strand knots under control my hair can look somewhat healthy. This journey to full hair recovery is longer than I anticipated. It is also more rewarding than I would have imagined.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Within two months of growing a new crop of hair follicles the ends of my hair alway look thin. When I place my hair into a pony it is thicker than in the past, but since the roots have many more hairs they look thinner, so trimming breathes life into the journey.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Moisturizing my hair while on a baldness regrowth journey is critical. All of the rules need to be amended to work synergistically with harsh topicals in order to maintain the integrity of the hair growth. In the morning when I wake up I either wash out the onion mask or spritz, but I always moisturize.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Firstly, let me say, I haven't developed a short cut. The only person, I have tested my technique on is myself and those that follow my post. It has been over a year and there are many testimonials, so I have developed an awareness of some key points. Baldness is a result of weakness in the body or mind, not a topical issue solved with a simple scalp treatment. Mine was a result of both physical and mental turmoil. It is caused alopecia areta, which means sudden baldness. At first I thought my methods would only work on people with the same issue, but in the course of a year, many men with Male Pattern baldness have reported the same positive results as myself. We all used a total holistic approach. Health is wealth.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

When my hair was shoulder length I felt like I had hair. It could be placed into a noticeable ball or blown out to hang reverently upon my shoulders. Simultaneously, I always felt a bit of shame because my hair was so thin, and my hair line was approaching my bald crown. Somehow the round bald spot in the middle of my head didn't bother me, because I couldn't see it. Right now I find myself looking at pictures prior to this patch of hair falling out, or that patch of hair coming out in the shower, and I am longing for my hair. I think about how long and pretty it might have been, had it not fell out numerous times. If I had only made different choices.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Right now, I am probably somewhere eating barbecue, and enjoying some cold lemonade. Actually, I might be beating someone at a game of cards, or grabbing some paint for my new apartment. Or I might be at the pier watching fireworks quietly with a friend. Right now I could be nursing a sunburn with aloe vera because it is such a beautiful day. I might be strumming the only chord I know on my guitar and singing 'I believe in Jesus' like I am Jimmy Hendricks love child. Whatever it is, I am free to do it, and therefore it is a celebration of my independence.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The bald spots are embarrassing, thin hair looks unhealthy, and yet growing out bald spots comes with a whole new set of issues. On a day to day basis, strangers that meet us in the street assume our lives are perfect, we are confident, and successful. With these grand assumptions comes judgement. Namely, when they see us with thin uneven textured hair, we are judges for not cutting off the damaged hair. There is no awareness of this thing called a baldness growth journey. It is a bit easier for a person that wears short hair, but a woman that wants long luxurious thick hair is going to feel the wrath of society along the journey.

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About Me

My Hair is wild, and wooly. I battle and win against alopecia everyday. The type of alopecia I battle is particularly fierce, I have had my eyebrows and lashes fall out in addition to my hair. Therefore I am proud to say I have a full head of hair with matching brows and lashes. Follow me to the wildest hair life style of your dreams.